The Evolving Landscape of Desktop Security

Overview: Over the last 20 years, as we have moved towards a knowledge-based economy, the security challenges of maintaining the fidelity of the IT infrastructure have grown dramatically. There has been a massive increase in the number of malware samples encountered by security researchers around the world, from thousands of malware samples in a year to thousands of malware samples per day. On an operational level, endpoint security (desktop/laptops) has grown more complex, and IT security managers frequently report a mix of threat-based and operational security challenges.

Application whitelisting is evolving into a viable primary layer of defense for a certain class of desktop systems. When used in conjunction with existing antivirus solutions, it not only provides a strong defense against emerging threats like APT and targeted malware, it also contributes to reduced operational costs by controlling the sprawl of unauthorized applications. With the extended benefits of application whitelisting and recent technology enhancements that make it easier to implement whitelisting, administrators can look forward to a simpler desktop security model.

With its whitelisting capabilities, McAfee® Application Control coupled with traditional antivirus technology offers a viable solution to many of these problems. McAfee Application Control is a marked improvement over traditional desktop security, offering malware resistance combined with better outbreak management capabilities.